Swing construction



Sept. 16, 1958 J. J. MANoccHlA y SWING CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 24. 195e ilnited States Patent Patented Sept. 16, 1958 hice SWING CONSTRUCTION John J. Manocchia, Cranston, R. I.

Application August 24, 1956, Serial No. 606,026

Claims. (Cl. 155-58) This invention relates to a swing construction wherein braking means are provided for preventing injury to the user by being struck accidentally by the swinging seat when the latter is suddenly vacated by the player.

Many accidents have resulted from children thoughtlessly, as well as sometimes intentionally, jumping oft the seat while swinging with the result that they fall to the ground and frequently are struck while arising by the oscillating seat before it has reached a state of rest.

lt is accordingly the primary object of the present invention to provide a braking swing hanger which applies Vitself automatically the moment a person leaves the seat of the swing, thus avoiding the dangers abovementioned not infrequently encountered in the use of conventional swings.

Another object of the invention is to produce a braking swing hanger of the character set forth which is of strong, durable, ecient and inexpensive construction.

The nature of the invention will become apparent from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims,

ln the drawings:

Fig. l is a view in perspective of a swing equipped with swing hangers embodying an automatic brake device constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one of the swing hanger units shown in Fig. l for suspending the seat member and showing the brake arrangement thereof in retracted position as would occur during swinging and with portions of the hanger housing broken away to show details of structure, one clamp plate being removed;

Fig. 3 is an end view of a swing hanger unit incorporating the structure shown in Fig. 2 but with the brake in operating position as would occur when the swing is at rest and the seat member is unoccupied or at the moment a rider jumps otc the seat during swinging; and

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the retractable brake shoe member.

Referring in detail to the drawing, and in particular to Fig. l, a two swing set is thereshown which comprises a pipe frame unit generally designated by the reference numeral made up of two pairs of upright supports 12 locked rigidly together and to the ends of a top beam 14 by two-way end fittings 15. Structural steel pipe is used for the pipe frame 10 and the end ttings 15 are of high strength malleable iron.

The two swing sets, as indicated at A and B in Fig. l, may be either of the board type swing seats or they may be equipped with chair type nursery swing seats, as desired. For the purposes of illustration only, both swing sets are alike and incorporate board type swing seats which are of a known construction and form no feature of the present invention. Also, both swings proper are similarly suspended by wire cables 16 from the top beam 14 by means of a pair of brake type swing hanger units 18 embodying the present invention, so that the description of one will suce for the other. It will be understood, of course, that the invention is not limited to pipe frames with a two-swing set but is equally applicable to a frame with a single swing as well as to pipe frames with three, six or nine swing sets, and also combination units including with the pipe frame swing seats, ying rings, trapeze bars, etc.

The braking swing hanger lunit 18 of the present invention is shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and involves upper and lower block members 2d and 21 provided with semicylindrical half-bearing portions 22 and 23 respectively which are detachably secured together to form an annular bearing, as shown in Fig. 2, by bolts 24 that carry nuts 25 and pass entirely through pairs of juxtaposed lugs 26 and 27 integral with the top and bottom block members 20 and 21 respectively. The lugs 26 project outwardly from opposite sides of the body half 20 at positions proximate to its diametrical parting plane, and the lugs 27 are similarly placed with respect to the diametrical parting plane of the body half 21. The lugs 26 are alike and each is of inverted U-shape, as illustrated in Fig. 3, and formed with a pair of downwardly projecting end apertured ears 2S and 29 which not only receive between them and embrace the flat bar-like lug 27 but, in addition, extend downwardly therebelow to a point where their apertured end portions slidably receive and support a suitable cross-pin 36 which passes beneath the nuts 25 just short of touching and is secured in place in the ears 28 and 29 against accidental removal therefrom by a suitable Cotter-pin 31. The foregoing arrangement of cross-pins 30 thus provides a safety feature to prevent compiete separation of the two block members 20 and 21 of the swing hanger unit 18 should rupture of the bolts 24 occur or in the event that the nuts 25 become loose with consequent stripping of their threaded connection with the bolts 24.

As illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, the semi-cylindrical halfbearing portions 22 and 23 when the block members 20 and 21 are joined together form a circular opening which is non-concentric with and has a greater radius of curvature than that of the outer cylindrical surface of the pipe that forms the top beam 14 of the pipe frame 10. Consequently, the top semi-cylindrical half-bearing portion 22 straddles and rides upon only a small portion of the upper cylindrical surface of the pipe beam 14 at either side of a vertical plane through the point of tangency of the half-bearing portion 22 with the top beam 14 and passing through the longitudinal axis of the latter, the

top beam 14 being indicated in broken outline in Figs. 2

and 3.

The lower block member 21 carries the braking mechanism of the present invention and includes an arcuate metal brake shoe member 35 formed with a lower convexedly curved surface 36 of substantially the same radius of curvature as that of the semi-cylindrical half-bearing portion 23 of the block member 21 and being concavedly curved on its upper surface as indicated at 37 to which is affixed an arcuate length of suitable brake lining material 38. Integral with the brake shoe member 35 and depending downwardly from the center of the convex undersurface 36 is a cylindrical plunger element 40 which is of a stepped formation, as shown in Fig. 4, having at its juncture with the brake shoe member 35 an enlarged cylindrical portion 41 which is slidably guided up and down in the upper end portion of a suitable bore 42 provided in the base end of a central neck portion 43 integral with the lower block member 21.

A coiled compression spring 45 is housed within the bore 42 and encircles the reduced stem portion 46, one end of this spring bearing against the annular shoulder formed at the juncture of the cylindrical portion 41 with the reduced stem 46, and the other end of this spring bearing against an annular abutment 47 intermediate of the neck portion 43 coaxial with and constituting a partition between the bore 42 and a counterbore 48 which extends inwardly of the neck 43 from its outer end. The cylindrical. stem portion 46 is of; such length as to extend outwardly entirely through and project well beyond the outer limits of the neck portion 43 and has attached to its outer end a cable clamp device 50 to which is anchored the up- Pel'end of one of the wire cables 16 by which one end of one of the seat members is supported.

`The structure of the clamp device 50 is shown in Figs. Z-Aandl 3, and this comprises a pair of opposed clamping plate members 51 and 52, the confronting surfaces of which are at and provided along their longitudinal extent with generally pear-shaped grooves 53 which are of an arcuateformation and ofa size to accommodate slightly less than half of the circular cross-section of the wire cable,16, whereby when the latter is placed between the ciamp members 51 and 52 and received by the grooves 3 there will be suiiicient clearance between the clamp membersto enable them to be drawn together by bolts 55 and nuts 56 thereon to effect a tight grip on the loop o f the cable 16.

A socket 58 is formed integral with the upper end of the clamp member 51 and is provided with a suitable bore 59 to receive the lower end of the stem portion 46 -ofrthe brake shoe member 35. The clamp member 51 is detachably connected with the stem 46 by means of a flat bar-like key 60 snugly fitted into suitable diametrically opposed .rectangular slots 61 and 62 in the socket 58 and extending transversely through an aligned rectangular slot 63 in the lower end portion of the stem 46, see Fig. 4. A suitable transverse pin 65 secures the key 60 against accidental dislodgernent from the stem 46 and the socket S8. This construction permits ready disasembly of the brake shoe member 35 from the clamp device 50 merely by driving out the pin 65 and the key 60 should it be necessary to replace any broken parts. It also will be evident that by use of a rectangular shaped key the full weight transmitted by the cable 16 will be applied directly to the longer cross-sectional dimension of the key 60 and, in turn, to the brake shoe member 35 so that there will be no load on the pin 65.

The loose end of the upper loop of the cable 16 may be secured to the suspended run of the cable by means of a suitable metal clip 66, as is conventional practice with wire cables.

It will be noted in Fig. 2 that the part of the semicylindrical half-bearing portion 23 of the block member 21' directly beneath the convexed undersurface 36 of the brake shoe member 35 is formed with an arcuate recess 70 of corresponding curvature and to a depth suicient to permit the brake shoe member 35 with its brake liningto be retracted from the top beam 14 to allow free oscillation of the swing hanger unit thereon when the swing is in use. However, when the swing is at rest and theseat member thereof is unoccupied or at the moment ai rider jumps ot the seat during swinging, the brake shoe members 35 of both hanger units 18 immediately are urged by their springs 45 from a retracted position toward the top beam 14 to forcibly press the brake linings against the outer surface thereof suiciently to retard and arrest the oscillatory motion of the hangers and cables, thereby preventing injury to anyone in the vicinity ofthe vacated swing.

The-upper end of the'socket member 58 in conjunction with the cylindrical portion 41 laterally supports and guides the cylindrical plunger element 40 during its reciprocatory movements in the bore 42 and the counterbore 48 of the neck 43.

If desired, the cables 16 may be individually enclosed within asheath formed of a suitable plastic, as indicated in broken outline at 71, and this sheath may be clamped at its upper end in a suitable manner as by means of a wire clamp 72 onto the neck portion 43 against a bead 73thereof.v

The block members 20 and 21 which dene the hanger body proper as well as the two clamping plate members 51 and 52 which form the clamp device 50 for the wire cable 16 are all made of high strength malleable iron. As to bolts 24, spring 45, key 60 and the securing pin 65 for the latter, all are made of suitable steel.

What is claimed is:

l. For a playground swing apparatus having an upright swing supportingpipe frame including a top horizontal beam pipe, a swing hanger unit from which one end of a swing seat member is suspended by a Wire cable, said hanger unit presenting a circular-bearingopening of such size as to receive and loosely encircle the top beam pipe and disposed so as to be non-concentric therewith, and also having a greater radius of curvature than the latter whereby it will engage and ride only on a small portion of the upper cylindrical surface of the top beam pipe and be supported thereby during its oscillatory movements thereon in unison with the swinging motion of the cable and the swing seat member, and a frictional brake mechansm arranged in operative-relation to the circular bearing opening of said hanger unit, said brake mechanism including a retractable brake shoe-member operated by a spring-actuatedy plunger element arranged to be moved by the spring into frictional contact with anexterior portion of the top beam pipe whenever the swing seat member isunoccupied for applying frictional braking thereto so as to retard and arrest the oscillatory movements of said hanger unit, and wire cable clamp means extending between the brake shoe member of the brake mechanism and the upper end of said Wire cable and operatively connecting the latter to the plunger element of the brake mechanism for releasing the latter by effecting retraction of said brake shoe member and its plunger against their normal spring action whenever the seat member is occupied thereby enabling free oscillation of the swing hanger unit on the top beam pipe in unisonrwith the seat member when the swing is inuse.

2. The structural combination of elements as claimed in claim 1 in which the swing hanger unit is further characterized by being made up of an assembly of upper and lower block members having a pair of semi-cylindrical half-bearing portions defining in their opposed assembled relation on the top beam pipe the said circular bearing opening, and in which the lower blockY member further includes a downwardly extending neck portion housing the actuating spring for the plunger element and entirely through which the latter projects for attachment exteriorly thereof to said wire clamp means and in which neck portion said plunger element slides up and down to apply and release the frictional braking action of the brake shoe members on the top beam pipe.

3. The structural combination of elements according to claim 1 in which'the swing hanger unit is further characterized by being longitudinally divided into upper and lower body half sections having opposed semi-cylindrical half-bearing portions providing in their assembled relation on the said top beam pipe the said circular bearing opening for receiving the latter, and in which said body half-sections have juxtaposed lugs integral therewith projecting outwardly from oppos p`ides thereof at positions proximate to the diametriceL parting plane of the two body halves and through which lugs the latter are bolted together by bolt and nut fasteners so as to define said circular bearing opening, the lugs of said lower body half-section being of flat bar-like formation and the lugs of said upper body half-section being of inverted U-shape and each formed with a pair of downwardly projecting end apertured ears between which is received and embraced the juxtaposed lug member of the lower body halfsection, and there is further provided in association with each upper lug a cross-pin detachably mounted in the apertured end portions of the ears and extending therebetween beneath the nut of each bolt fastener for providing a safety device to prevent complete separation of the juxtaposed intertted lugs of the two body halves of the hanger unit should failure of the bolt and nut fasteners occur.

4. A swing hanger unit of the class described comprising, in combination, upper and lower block members having a pair of semi-'cylindrical half-bearing portions in opposed assembled relation and dening a circular bearing opening arranged to be non-concentric with and of a size as to receive and loosely encircle a top beam pipe of an upright swing supporting pipe frame, and also having a greater radius of curvature than the latter whereby it Will engageand ride -only on a small portion of the upper cylindrical surface of said top beam pipe and be supported thereby during its oscillatory movements thereon in unison with the swinging cables and the swing seat member, said lower block member including a central downwardly extending neck portion provided with two coaxial communicating bores one inwardly from its inner end and the 4other inwardly from its outer end in which said bores terminate intermediate of said neck to deiine an annular partition, and a frictional brake mechanism arranged in operative relation to the circular bearing opening of each of said hanger units, said brake mechanism including a movable arcuate brake shoe member retractable into and out of a recessed portion of the semi-cylindrical half-bearing portion which is to face the underside of the top beam pipe, a stepped plunger element integral with said brake shoe member and extending downwardly from the center of the convex undersurface of the latter, said plunger element having an actuating stem portion which passes coaxially entirely through the bores of said neck for attachment to a wire cable clamp device, the upper end of said plunger having an enlarged cylindrical portion which is received in and slidably guided by the upper -bore in said neck and delines an annular shoulder at its juncture with the stem part, a coiled compression spring housed within the upper bore of said neck and encircling said plunger stern with the spring disposed between and having its ends operatively engaging said annular shoulder and partition portions respectively, and wire cable clamp means to which is aiixed the upper end of one of the wire cables for suspending one end of a swing seat, said wire cable clamp means comprising a pair of opposed separable clamping plate members having confronting flat surfaces which are suitably grooved to intertittingly receive between them part of the rounded upper loop end of a wire seat suspension cable when said plates are detachably secured in assembled clamped relation to each other about said cable loop, the upper end of one of said clamping plate members having a socket portion integral therewith in which is received the lower end of said plunger stem, the walls of said socket being rectangularly slotted therethrough at diametrically opposite points thereof and the lower end of said plunger stern being correspondingly slotted to register with such socket slots, a rectangular key fitted into and extending transversely through said aligned rectangular slots of said socket and the plunger stem, and pin means detachably holding said key in such position, the upper end of said socket being received in the lower bore of said neck portion of the hanger and slidably guiding therein the lower portion of said plunger stem during appropriate movements thereof to apply and release the brake shoe member with respect to its frictional engagement with the top beam pipe.

5. For a playground swing apparatus having an upright swing supporting pipe frame including a top horizontal beam pipe, a swing hanger unit from which one end of a swing seat member is suspended by a wire cable, said hanger unit presenting a circular opening of such size as to loosely encircle the top beam pipe and having a greater radius -of curvature than the latter whereby it will engage and ride only on a small portion of the upper cylindrical surface of said top beam pipe and be supported thereby during its oscillatory movements thereon in unison with the swinging motion of said cable together with the swing seat member, a spring-actuated plunger type frictional brake mechanism including a retractable lbrake shoe member mounted within the said circular opening of said hanger unit, and wire cable clamp means extending between the brake shoe member of said brake mechanism and the upper end of said wire cable for operatively connecting the latter to the plunger of said brake mechanism for releasing the latter by effecting retraction of said brake shoe member and plunger against their normal spring action whenever the seat member is occupied thereby enabling free oscillation of the swing hanger unit on the top beam pipe of the pipe frame when the swing is in use.

References Cited in the tile of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 

